Rounding the Bases

– I love the “Vote for Manny” idea from Jason. It’s hilarious, and it uses a very media-oriented topic to get some attention to a very important issue on how we treat steroids.

– However, I think some (though not Jason; this isn’t the point he’s trying to make at all) are taking Manny’s candidacy a little too legitimately. The voting started before the suspension. Manny was a celebrity in LA, and I imagine he would be leading all vote-getters at this point without the suspension. Before criticizing the fans for poor voting, let’s let this play out a little. I doubt he was going to get a lot of votes after his suspension, though the new campaigns and attention might keep him in the picture longer than he should (vote for Justin Upton people!). And if we’re really going to go all-out, why is A-Rod third?

– Joey Votto went on the DL. I feel for the guy. He was doing an awesome job and is a young, exciting player. I’d still feel for him if he were the opposite. It has to be really scary for someone with such a problem, and I only hope that by sitting the next few weeks, everything will clear itself up. Vote for Joey anyway.

– The real travesty of the NL outfield voting so far is that Raul Ibañez is just sixth and that Justin Upton and Brad Hawpe don’t even appear in the voting. I realize that a lot of voters haven’t voted yet (I haven’t), but this is just ridiculous. Beltran and Braun are fine choices, but Ibañez is the epitome of All-Star Games (big first half, much bigger than career would indicate), Upton should at least be in the top five, and the same goes for Hawpe. They just happen to play for crappy NL West teams. Look, people, look! Before you vote, you should, you know, actually look at the statistics. Then again, if you fall into the popularity contest portion of it, I respect your decision as long as you vote Griffey into the game as well (he is 4th, and I would be okay with him getting in).

– Brewer fans have shown up in big numbers so far. All Brewers starters are in the running at this point, and we may be seeing another 1957. Someone please explain how Bill Hall is second at third base. Please? JJ Hardy? Jason Kendall? Corey Hart? Mike Cameron? I’ll give you Fielder, Weeks, and Braun.

– Where have all the Cubbies gone (8 made it last season — most of any team)?

– In an odd moment, the AL voting actually looks sane, but I doubt that we’ve seen the brunt of Yankee-Red Sox forces yet. Is Scott Rolen really ahead of Mike Lowell?

– Scratch that, Rangers fans appear to be the Brewers of the AL.

– Again, it’s way too early to make a big deal out of any of this. Most of the voters to use all 25 by this point probably don’t pay much attention to who should be at the game. By the end of the month, there should be a lot more appropriate players there.